Testify - Now Donate Please

Advanced Trading visited a major financial services firm yesterday -- it was off-the-record so no names, titles or even hints about what they do. We spoke about the US dollar, forthcoming Dodd-Frank regulations and the pleasures of appearing before Congress. Our host had an interesting story.

"It's odd; you testify before Congress and once you're done, you get an e-mail on your Blackberry asking for donations," says our host, who was clearly still surprised by the congressional chutzpah.

The very same pols that paint Wall Street as greedy ghouls have no problem asking for some dollars for their campaign chests.

We asked if they were impressed with the knowledge of the congressmen and women who are crafting the laws. Our host says no, the depth of market structure knowledge isn't there but our host was impressed with their senior staffers. "It was clear that they had done their homework."

Also, the details of the laws are being crafted by senior lobbyists. "They know the markets quite well," says our host.

We asked about working with the Chinese; are they devaluing the US dollar? It looks like they are, says our host. "It's so hard to go over there because they are growing so fast and they have government subsidies for everything. A gallon of gas costs 45 cents while it's three dollars here in the states. And in a partnership, it's never 50-50. If you do business with a Chinese firm, they always own two-thirds of it."